About Me

My name is Amy Ziffer. I've been assisting clients in western Connecticut with their gardening needs since 1998. My nickname is "The Shady Lady" because my business name is A Shady Lady Garden Design (but I always hasten to add that I am only nominally shady). I started the business intending to specialize in shade gardening, but in practice my work has had a much broader scope. Clients have asked me to design or care for gardens in both shade and sun, from foundation plantings to flower borders to vegetable gardens, and even the occasional pond. The one thing they ...

Captivating Cottage Gardens

Cottage gardens possess an allure unmatched by any other kind of garden. Maybe it comes from being the horticultural equivalent of a woman with an hourglass figure, or maybe it's just because they're packed with such a variety of plant life that they're never the same two weeks in a row, but whatever the source of their mystique, cottage gardens draw people like bees to nectar.
[caption id="attachment_192" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Cosmos takes center stage in a sweet cottage garden scene"][/caption]
This spring I'm giving a series of lectures about cottage gardening, focusing primarily on a very particular cottage garden I designed ...

Garden Lectures

For more than ten years, I've presented programs on a variety of gardening topics throughout New England and the lower Hudson Valley, speaking to flower show audiences, garden clubs, and at libraries and other venues where I can reach interested gardeners. Whether it's cottage gardening, shade gardening or another subject altogether, I probably have a program your group would enjoy.
Here's what people say about my programs:
"Your presentation was a brilliant kick-off to our garden lecture series."
"We really enjoyed your talk last night. It was so uplifting to see the colorful slides of your lovely garden."
"You're an engaging presenter!"
"Very informative—nice ...